Big Daddy Dave

Friday, July 31, 2015

I told Laurie that some day I’d take her to spend a night on
the town in Manhattan… This was it! (I think that she might have been expecting
something a bit larger and more glamorous…)

We headed north from Council Grove on Kansas Hwy. 177 toward
Manhattan Kansas, where we had a hotel reservation for the night.

Along
the way we passed these very classy and impressive signs announcing and guiding
passing motorists to the 128 year old town of Alta Vista. Our reaction was Wow! This town must have something going on…

As it
turned out, the signs worked and we drove through the town… It’s off the main
highway and it has a population of around 430 residents. Alta Vista was founded in 1887 and it was
incorporated as a city in 1905. Alta
Vista is derived from the Spanish word for "high view". The town was given its name based on its
lofty elevation. Alta Vista sits ‘high’
on the plains at 1,497 feet above sea level.
By contrast, Council Grove is only 1,234 feet above sea level and
Manhattan is down at 1,019. Hills are
duly noted when in Kansas!

The
main attraction Alta Vista has is the Ag Heritage Park at 103 South Main
Street. It’s not really a museum, but
rather a personal collection of agricultural equipment, household goods and
appliances gone amok! Call ahead…$5.00
donations suggested. Website: http://www.kansastravel.org/agheritagepark.htm.

From
Alta Vista we headed north on Kansas Hwy. 177 for our overnight stay in
Manhattan. Talk about ‘big sky
country’! It was 24 miles from Alta
Vista to Manhattan and with the exception of where we bisected I-70 this was
the scenery…stark beauty.

Factoid:

·Rural flight to larger cities has resulted
in the fact that in Kansas there are more than 6,000 ghost towns and dwindling
communities.

The 1880
Damon Runyon House is an American Folk Style House located at 400 Osage Street
in Manhattan Kansas. Alfred Damon Runyon
was born on October 4, 1880 in the little front parlor room of the house. If the name sounds at all familiar, it’s
because he is a prominent newspaper columnist, sportswriter, novelist,
playwright and screenwriter in the first half of the twentieth century. He was the author of “Guys and Dolls” and many
regard him as the father of "Broadway" in New York City. To learn more about him, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_Runyon.

Factoid:

·Runyon died in New York City from throat
cancer in late 1946, at age 66. His body
was cremated and his ashes were illegally scattered from a DC-3 airplane over
Broadway in Manhattan New York by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker on December 18,
1946.

·After Runyon's death, his friend and fellow
journalist, Walter Winchell, went on his radio program and appealed for
contributions to help fight cancer, eventually establishing the Damon Runyon
Cancer Memorial Fund to support scientific research into causes of, and
prevention of cancer. That organization
is still functioning today. Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_Runyon_Cancer_Research_Foundation.

This is
another one of those houses that Laurie and I just liked the looks of! It isn’t listed in the National Register but
it is a handsome and distinguished looking home that is old but very nicely
maintained…

Manhattan
Kansas was founded by settlers from the “New England Emigrant Aid Company” as a
Free-State town in the 1850's during the Pre-Civil War “Bleeding Kansas” era. Nicknamed "The Little Apple" as a play
on New York City's "Big Apple", Manhattan is today best known as
being the home of Kansas State University with its roughly 25,000
students. Manhattan itself has a
population of over 52,000 residents and it’s the county seat for Riley
County. The giant Fort Riley Military
Reservation (US Army) is located just outside the city.

This
handsome mission revival style depot was built by the Union Pacific Railroad in
1902. The cost of construction: $10,000. Theodore Roosevelt stopped here on his famous
whistle stop campaign of the USA in 1903.
Passenger service continued here until 1971 and freight trains rumbled
by until 1984.

The
tracks are now long gone and the depot now sits by itself in the middle of a
roadway interchange. The building is managed by the Manhattan Parks
and Recreation Department. It’s
available for rent as a multi-use facility for exhibitions, conferences,
receptions, parties, meetings, weddings, etc.

The
Kansas Pacific Railroad began its existence in 1855 as the Leavenworth, Pawnee
and Western Railroad. The name
"Kansas Pacific" was actually not adopted until 1869. It first arrived in Manhattan in 1866 and at
that time, a wooden depot was constructed to serve its customers. The Kansas Pacific railroad was consolidated
with the Union Pacific in 1880. Its
mainline continues to be an integral part of the Union Pacific network today.

The
railroad stimulated significant growth in the area and other railroads also came to
town. One was the Manhattan, Alma and
Burlingame Railroad, which was built in 1880.
That line was abandoned in 1898.
Established in 1879, the Marysville Blue Valley Railroad followed the
Blue River north from Manhattan. Later,
as part of the Union Pacific System, that line was abandoned in 1958 when a dam
and reservoir planned was initiated which blocked the right of way.

The Seven
Dolors Catholic Church, located at 731 Pierre in Manhattan, was completed in
1920. The parish itself was established in
1880. ThisRomanesque
Revival limestone block and brick structure is topped with a green tile gable
roof and it’s accented by those twin 85 foot tall towers. The church was named after the ‘Seven Sorrows’
of the Virgin Mary.

That’s
about it for now. Just click on any of
the photos to enlarge them…

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

With
over a dozen places listed on the National Register of Historic Places, we
weren’t quite done exploring Council Grove!

It
should be noted that the Downtown Business District is listed basically in its
entirety as is the Santa Fe National Historic Landmark District… We
photographed segments of both districts but missed major portions of both as
well as 4 other free standing historic places. There is a lot to see in this historic town…

This
tree trunk with a roof over it is part of the Santa Fe Trail Historic
District. From 1825 to 1847, Santa Fe
Trail travelers left messages in a cache at the foot of this bur oak tree to
inform others of trail conditions, giving it its name, "Post Office
Oak". Believed to have been 270
years old when it died in 1990, its stump has been preserved on the site.

The
adjacent stone house is now a museum operated by the Morris County Historical
Society. It was built in 1864 as a
residence…with a brewery in the basement. The museum is open on Sundays during the
summer and by appointment only at other times.

Notes:

·The Santa Fe Trail connected Franklin,
Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. It
served as a vital commercial highway until the introduction of the railroad to
Santa Fe in 1880.

·The Trail crossed Comancheria, the
territory of the Comanches, who demanded compensation for granting passage to
the trail. Americans routinely assaulted
the Comanches along the trail, finding it unacceptable that they had to pay a
fee for passage to Santa Fe.

·The Trail was used as the 1846 United
States invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War.

The
Cottage House Hotel at 25 North Neosho Street was built in 1867. Originally it was a three-room cottage and
blacksmith shop that grew into a boarding house in 1871…known as the Cottage
House. Major additions were made between
1881 and 1913. This Italianate ‘cube’ style
bed-and-breakfast has been restored to the eras of each of those additions. Back in early 1900s, this little hotel was
considered to be very upscale indeed when compared to most others.

·Council Grove is the county seat in Morris
County, Kansas. It was named after an
agreement between European Americans and the Osage Nation about allowing
settlers' wagon trains to pass through the area and proceed to the West. Pioneers gathered at a grove of trees so that
wagons could band together for their trip west.

·Today the population of Council Grove is
estimated to be approximately 2,200 residents.

The Kaw
Mission was built in 1851 as a school for boys from the Kaw (Kanza) American
Indian tribe. The State of Kansas is
named after this tribe. For more
information about this historical site, just go to http://www.kshs.org/kaw_mission.

Basically,
the mission was established by Methodists who attempted to educate Kaw boys as
a means of folding the Indians into the Euro-American culture. Thirty Kaw boys lived and attended school
here from 1851 to 1854. The Kaw lived here along the Santa Fe Trail for less
than 30 years before the U.S. government removed them to Indian Territory (now
Oklahoma).

Notes:

·Today, the Kaw Nation's headquarters is in
Kaw City, Oklahoma. Current tribal
membership is roughly 3,200 but less than half of the tribe resides in
Oklahoma.

·The name of Topeka, capital city of Kansas,
is said to be the Kaw word Tó Ppí Kˀé meaning "a good place to grow
potatoes."

In 1861
the federal government built 138 of these stone huts on the Kaw reservation
south of Council Grove. This one hut has been relocated and rebuilt on the mission grounds. This is another example of the government
trying to ‘help’ people. The Indians,
who had for generations been living comfortably in skin tepees and bark-and-mat
lodges, wanted nothing to do with their new homes, choosing instead to stable
their horses and dogs in them!

This
was our last stop in Council Grove… The Carnegie Library building was built ca.
1917 and it’s located at 303 West Main Street.
The Morris County Historical Society holds its meetings at this
building.

A total
of 63 Carnegie Foundation funded libraries were built in Kansas during the
first 3 decades of the 20th Century with 4 of them being built on
college campuses. At least 40 Carnegie
Library building in Kansas are listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. In total, the Foundation built 1,681
city libraries and 108 college libraries in the USA.

Monday, July 27, 2015

After
leaving the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, it was only a 17 mile drive
north on Kansas Hwy. 177 before we arrived in Council Grove. Upon arrival, we started searching for a
number of sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places…

This is
the Farmers and Drovers Bank Building at 201 West Main Street. Built in 1892, this interesting and well
maintained building is an example of a mix of architectural styles with brick
and stone masonry, Romanesque arches, a Byzantine dome and minarets. As of 1980, when this building was nominated for
the National Register of Historic Places, the same family that founded this
bank continued to operate it…

Note: By the early 1880s, Council Grove had a
large stone courthouse, a large steam-powered flour mill, 9 grocery stores, 2
hardware stores, several dry goods stores, 3 restaurants, a furniture store, a
bank, 3 livery stables, a lumber yard, 4 hotels and 4 churches.

This is
the Council Grove National Bank building located at 130 West Main Street. Constructed in 1887, this former bank
building was originally the Morris County State Bank. It’s an example of Western commercial
architecture influenced by the High Victorian Italianate style.

Factoid: In
1868, some 400 Cheyenne Indians flooded Council Grove armed and painted for
war. The town was taken completely by
surprise but the warriors were actually destined for a confrontation with
the Kanza Indians and they moved on. For
more about this incident, go to: http://www.legendsofkansas.com/indianbattles2.html#CheyenneOutbreak.

This story is about half way down on pg.
2.

The
Hays House…which proudly and boldly displays its age…is located at 203 Wood
Street. The Hays House lays claim to
being the oldest, continuously-operating restaurant west of the Mississippi
River. It has been recognized by the
Kansas Sampler Foundation as one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine. It was first opened in 1857 because of its
location on the Santa Fe Trail…

The
Hays House was a gathering place for meals but additionally it was a district
court, a mail distribution center, a popular tavern, home to bawdy theatricals,
and on Sundays a sheet was used to cover the liquor bottles so that church
services could be held here. Both Jesse
James and General Custer are said to have consumed adult beverages here...

Seth
Hays was the first European-American settler in the area. He arrived in 1847 to trade with the Kaw
tribe, which had a reservation established in the area in 1846. Hays was a great grandson of Daniel Boone. He also built the Hays House…

This is
The Last Chance Store… This store was built from hand-hewn native limestone in
1857 and it is the oldest remaining commercial building in Council Grove. For a time, it was the last place to purchase
supplies for travelers headed down the Santa Fe Trail…providing it the nickname
by which it has long been known. In
addition, the building housed post office facilities for several years and also
served as a government trading house for the Kaw Indians.

Factoid: The National Old Trails Road, also known
as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the
National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was 3,096 miles long stretching
from Baltimore Maryland to the west coast. Much of the route followed the old National
Road and the Santa Fe Trail through Council Grove.

I’m
always looking for old railway depots… Somehow, I missed finding this
attractive and well maintained 1894 Missouri, Kansas and Texas Combination
Depot! It appears to be in a park and
perhaps that’s the clue that I missed during my brief search…

To make
matters worse, this little Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad passenger depot
sits right next to the combination depot shown above! This little depot was relocated to Council
Grove from Sylvan Kansas.

I ‘borrowed’
these 2 photos from Jack Marshall’s website, http://www.depotmaps.com/. This is an extremely helpful and user
friendly website with an interactive map of the USA showing roughly 9,000 depot
locations and featuring photos of about 6,550 depots… I use this site whenever
planning a road trip. You can dial the
map down to street level which can be very helpful when searching for depots.

Somehow,
this is the only railroad depot that I found in Council Grove. This old Missouri Pacific Railroad freight depot
sits on private property at the northeast corner of US Hwy. 56 and Kansas Hwy.
177. It’s being used for storage.

I
identified this 3rd Council Grove depot by using a website
established by the Railroad Station Historical Society Inc. While this site doesn’t have photos, it
frequently provides addresses and additional depots/railroad structures that
aren’t listed elsewhere. For example, this
depot wasn’t shown on the ‘depot maps’ website mentioned under the previous
photos… The Historical Society’s website, http://www.rrshs.org/,
lists 24 different categories of remaining railroad/railway structures. These include depots, railroad bridges, gate
towers, water tanks, roundhouses and tunnels, etc.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Our
next stop in our short tour of east central Kansas was just north of Strong
City.

This is
the Visitor’s Center for the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. For some reason, I don’t remember much about
the visitor’s center, but I do know that we purchased another souvenir pin for
Laurie’s pin-laden vest. We both thought
that the visitor’s center was unattractive and in our opinion it didn’t fit the
site… Inside the building visitors will find has restrooms, water fountains, a
short orientation film, Jr. Ranger activities and a number of exhibits
pertaining to tall grass prairies.

FYI, tall
grass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America. Within a
generation the vast majority had been developed and plowed under. Today less than 4% remains, most of it in the
Kansas Flint Hills. The preserve
protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tall grass prairie.

In my
opinion, this photo supports the view that the Visitor’s Center (at the left)
clashes with the big stone barn and the era it represents.

Note
the bus… Daily Park Ranger guided bus tours are offered at 11 AM. The Preserve covers almost 11,000 acres and a
herd of buffalo reside out on the Prairie.
One can also walk the trails through the grasslands… With the exception
of 180 acres owned by the Park Service, the rest of the preserve is owned by
the Nature Conservancy.

The
Nature Conservancy is our favorite charitable environmental organization and we’ve
been a member for many years. It works
in more than 35 countries, including all 50 states. The Conservancy has over 1,000,000 members,
and it has protected more than 119,000,000 acres of land and 5,000 miles of
rivers throughout the world. The Conservancy
also operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. The organization's assets total $6.18 billion
as of 2014. Although critics complain
that the Conservancy is too close to business, we both applaud this
collaborative approach… To learn more,
just go to http://www.nature.org/.

The Spring
Hill Farm and ‘Z-Bar’ Stock Ranch is at the core of the Tallgrass
Preserve. It was a showplace for
cattleman Stephen F. Jones and his wife Louisa. In 1878 they came to Kansas from Colorado
wishing to graze cattle on the “fine prairie grasses” of the Flint Hills and
then ship them by rail to market in Kansas City. The ranch grew to 7,000 acres, specializing in
Hereford, Durham, and Galloway cattle.

Stephen
Jones used his massive 60 x 110 foot limestone barn to house animals, shelter
equipment, and store the hay and grain that fed the livestock during the winter
months. In 1885, Jones’ livestock
numbered 200 swine, 30 horses, 8 milk cows, 4 mules, and hundreds of cattle
foraging on the ranch’s prairie grasses. The barn was built into the side of
the hill for natural insulation.

This is
the second floor of that huge limestone barn… It is massive and
impressive. The barn cost $15,000 to
build back in 1881. As per the Strong
City Independent Newspaper on 12/24/1881, "It will take 5,000 pounds of
tin to cover the mammoth barn of S.F. Jones on Fox Creek, and the tinners are
laying it on." The limestone blocks
used to build the barn, historic house, and outbuildings weigh over 160 pounds
per cubic foot.

Part of
the lower level of the barn is built into the hillside. We didn’t see it but it was used to stable
some of the livestock and for storage of saddles and harnesses in the tack room. It retains many of the original stalls and
feed bunks from the 1880s.

Mr.
Jones found an abundance of limestone on his property. As per the 1885 census, he had built over 30
miles of stone fence.

The
views are vast indeed… This is truly ‘big sky’ country!

Most
settlers judged this almost treeless land to be worthless. However, some pioneers soon realized the
value of the prairie’s rich soil. Although
the Flint Hills were too rocky to plow, settlers discovered its many resources,
something long known by American Indians. For eons, the Flint Hills furnished people
with edible and medicinal plants, year-round spring water, stone for tools,
weapons, fences and buildings, wind for power, rich bottomland for farming, and
lush grasses for grazing.

This is
the Curing House… It was used to cure meat. Inside there are hooks in the ceiling rafters
used for hanging the meat. A lack of
smoke and soot residue in the ceiling and its close proximity to the main house
suggests that it wasn't a smoke house.

Butchering
usually took place in the fall. Hams and other meats were salted down, wrapped
in cheesecloth, and hung on hooks in the ceiling of this building. The three
port holes caused air to be drawn in from the outside, forcing the salt to move
inward toward the meat's interior.

The
home’s Spring Room is located under the Curing House. It was reached via a tunnel from the
house. Spring water was piped through
the kitchen, down the tunnel, and into the spring room where it collected in a
trough. The directed and constant flowing cool, underground spring water
encircled crocks filled with milk, butter, and cheese, keeping the food at a
consistent temperature. After encircling
the room, this "used" spring water exited the spring room via a
narrow interior trough and collected in an underground cistern located to the
east of the spring room. (Very innovative!)

This is
the family’s outhouse… Stephen Jones sure didn't cut corners on his buildings! The exterior walls are substantial and
beautiful, built with block limestone and keystones with a hammered face and
tooled stone edges. The corner stones also have tooled edges.

When I
was in the 4th grade we had a 2-seater all brick outhouse at the
home we lived in near Jonesville Michigan. (Not great fun in mid-winter!) I
must admit that I’ve never seen a3-seater before!

Note
that there two adult and one child’s seat.
One purpose for this was biodegradability. On the adult side as one area filled, lime was
used to break down solids. Meanwhile,
the other opening would be utilized until the waste was dissolved. Of course another reason for 3 seats may have
been to provide each individual member of the household, (Mr. and Mrs. Jones
and their daughter Loutie), their own personal ‘throne’.

Winters
were colder in the 1800s and rivers would freeze solid. The Cottonwood River had an ice cutting
factory and large blocks of ice were scored and cut by an ice plow, then sold. Blocks of ice were then carried by wagon to
the icehouse for storage. For insulation
against melting, ice was stored between layers of prairie hay and sawdust.

The
icehouse was built of native limestone in 1882. The original doorway was located on the north
face of the building. Placing the
entrance on the north side of a building denies sunlight from reaching the ice.
Some icehouses placed the entrance
several feet off the ground because the interior cold air, (from the ice),
flows downward. Keeping the entrance to
the building near the top of the structure wouldn’t allow the cold air to
escape.

You can
disregard the old gas pump…but can you guess what this sod covered stone
structure was used for back in the 1880s?

Can you
believe that this was the chicken coop…or in this case…house! The structure was built into the hillside
with a barrel arched ceiling that is topped with a sod roof. The hillside and the roof…as well as the thick
limestone walls all served as insulation for Mr. Jones' chickens. Even in the heaviest rain, the chicken house
remained dry and the chickens kept warm. Ventilation is also important for egg
productions, so Mr. Jones provided the chickens with two skylights through the
sod! This was definitely the Cadillac of
chicken coops!

This impressive
11-room ‘ranch house’ was completed in 1881. The Second Empire architecture included
practical adaptations to the location and life on the prairie. Tall opposing windows took advantage of the prevailing
summer winds, allowing a cooling draft through the home. By building the house into the hillside, Mr. Jones
took advantage of the earth’s natural insulation to aid in heating and cooling this
large structure.

Stephen
F. Jones spent the modern equivalent of about $1.9 million building the Spring
Hill Ranch complex including the stone fences.
However he only owned the property for 10 years and occupied the
limestone ranch house for a mere 5 1/2 years.
The house cost $25,000 to build in early 1880s dollars…

Of
course as luck would have it, when we stopped by for a visit the house was
closed for repairs…so we didn’t get to see the inside. It has since been reopened for tours.

Remember
David Rettiger who I mentioned in my previous post? He was the builder of this impressive home. Rettiger also built the Montezuma Hotel in Las
Vegas, New Mexico in the mid 1880s and in 1871-72, he worked on that impressive
Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls Kansas from one of my previous
posts.

The
native limestone used in this home building was quarried and dressed at the
Rettiger home quarry, north of Strong City. Individual building stones are square cut on
all bearing surfaces and have a rough-hewn face. The stones are all the same
size. The expensive hand-cut stone would
be financially impossible to reproduce today.

Just a
little south of the Z-Bar Ranch with its big house and barn, you can see the Lower
Fox Creek School. Residents of the Fox Creek area decided in
1878 - 1879 that a school district should be formed for the education of their
children.

The
site for the schoolhouse was donated by Stephen F. Jones with the stipulation
that the deed would revert back to the ranch owner when the place was no longer
used as a school. Built in 1882, this
one-room school provided a setting for educating local area students until
1930, when it was abandoned and then it reverted to the ranch owner. It is now part of the Tallgrass Prairie National
Preserve.

The
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located on Kansas Hwy. 177 just 2 miles north
of Strong City or just 17 miles south of Council Grove. To learn more, you can go to http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm. Admission is free!

That’s
about it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Laurie
and I both loved this home in Cottonwood Falls!
And no, it isn’t on any lists of historic places or property. We just thought that it was a great looking
stone home with a tin roof…

It
appears to be ‘new’ construction. The
chimney is on the end of the house, not in the middle so it isn’t critical for
keeping the house warm in the winter.
The structure is sitting on a concrete slab base. Also, the spigot for the hose is built into
the side of the house. Still, despite
its lack of age, it was worthy of our attention!

Time
for lunch!

This is
the Grand Central Hotel and Grill at 215 Broadway in Cottonwood Falls
Kansas. It was built in 1884 and was
completely remodeled in 1995. It features
the original brick walls and stockyard brick flooring. Note the adjacent outdoor dining area to the
right of the building. This hotel is
where the revelers had their big supper when the Cartter Building down the
street was inaugurated in 1888.

Our
photo of the dining room in the Grand Central Hotel didn’t come out well so I
‘borrowed’ this picture from the Internet.
The dining room is pleasant and airy with high ceilings and plenty of
light. The Grand Central Hotel is Kansas'
only AAA Four Diamond Historic Country Inn/Restaurant…

The Inn
itself has 10 guest rooms, all but 1 of which is named after area ranches. Room rates range from $160.00 to
$190.00. AAA discounts are available.

Laurie
ordered the Chicken Salad with pasta salad and fresh seasonal fruit. ($8.50)
She enjoyed her lunch but the pasta salad was a little bland for her
taste.

It was
Memorial Day when we dined at the Grand Central Hotel. Either they were short staffed or they hadn’t
expected as much business as they had. (Cottonwood Falls is a bit out of the
way for ordinary travelers and there aren’t any large cities nearby) One server
did most of the running with some support from a manager and perhaps the owner. It took quite a while to be served and we had
another lengthy wait before we got our food…and our check.

For my
lunch, I ordered the 8 oz. Bacon Pepper Jack Burger. ($9.50) It came on a
toasted buttered bun…always a positive to me!
This was a good juicy cheeseburger with lots of flavor and I liked the
coleslaw as well…

The
dinner menu for the Grill at the Grand Central Hotel is quite varied but from
everything I read it’s all about the steaks!
The 12 oz. Creekstone Farms “Santa Fe Trail” Ribeye dinner is $27.00. (Creekstone
Farms is based in Arkansas City Kansas.
Website: http://www.creekstonefarms.com/)

From
Cottonwood Falls we drove north on Kansas Hwy. 177, passing through Strong City
one more time. The David Rettiger
Building isn’t on the National Register of Historic Places and it’s slowly
succumbing to the weather and aging.
Laurie and I both took a fancy to the design of the holes for the
support timbers…

As
these small towns continue their downward trend in population and financial
wherewithal, the decline of these old buildings is inevitable. In 1900, Strong City had a population of
1,128 residents but the estimated population in 2013 is down to 466.

Note: Remember the name, David Rettiger. He was a major player in the development of
the significant historic site featured in my next posting.

This is
the Strong City Opera House at 501 Cottonwood Street. It was built in 1900 and 1901 for the Strong
City Musical and Literary Association. Construction funds of $6,000 were raised by
the sale of shares at $10 each. (Remember the name on that building I talked
about above? The Rettiger Brothers had
the subcontract for the stonework for the Opera House)

The Opera House’s grand
opening was held April 19, 1901, with the entertainment provided by the Modoc
Club, (then a nationally known men’s chorus), and Marshall's Civic Band from Topeka.
(The band still exists today. It’s been performing
ever since 1884!) The Santa Fe Railroad even offered special fares from Abilene
and Topeka for people who wanted to attend this big event!

Strong City was a happening place back around the turn of the 20th
Century. As per William G. Cutler’s
“History of the State of Kansas”, the town had “a bank, a city hall and D.
C. Webb's famous store. S. F. Jones is
President and E. A. Hildebrand is Cashier of the Strong City bank, which has a
capital of $100,000. The town has three
general stores, three groceries, an extensive hardware store, a druggist, two
physicians, two attorneys, two shoemakers, a livery, feed and sale stable, a
milliner, a blacksmith, an auctioneer, a drayman, a carpenter and builder, a
meat market, a well-driller, a tobacconist, keeper of a hotel and a restaurant.” There was even a horse-drawn trolley that
operated from Cottonwood Falls to Strong City!